Request for Volunteers at Dayton

Folks:
I sent the following e-mail out last week (to amsat-bb, officers,
BOD, and Field Ops) asking for volunteers who are willing to assist
AMSAT at Hamvention to send me an e-mail with their available hours
for working the booth from which i can then to develop a work
schedule. To date only a few individuals have responded to my
request for volunteers and we are short of people. A number of
individuals who have assisted in the past (and spent a considerable
amount of time assisting at the booth) will not be at Hamvention this
year. We need your help!
If you are an AMSAT member , will be at Hamvention this year, and
haven't already informed me of your willingness to help out, please
consider volunteering for 'booth duty.'
As noted previously:
Please let me know if you can give us a hand during the Hamvention.
Send me an e-mail (wd4asw@amsat.org) and include the following:
1. What hours are you willing to volunteer during each day that the
commercial exhibits are open? The commercial exhibits are open
Friday 0900-1800, Saturday 0800-1700, and Sunday 0800-1300. Please
volunteer for one-hour periods or multiples thereof. If you can help
at various times during the Hamvention, please provide a
prioritization as to which specified periods are best for you.
2. Include your name, callsign, and e-mail address in your message.
3. Indicate any special skills that would be helpful, such as
familiarity with specific products available through AMSAT,
particularly software such as MacDoppler, SCRAP, SATPC32 and NOVA.
While we are looking for volunteers to help with the ‘crush’ of
normal exhibitor activities, it would be helpful to know who can
assist in software demonstrations or answer particular questions
about various aspects of our hobby during a particular shift.
4. If you have already sent me an e-mail offering to volunteer,
please respond by e-mail to this request as well by specifying the
times that you are available to work.
If you can volunteer to assist, please let me know by Tuesday, May
10. I intend to provide a tentative work schedule no later than
Sunday evening, May 15 to those who have indicated a willingness to
help. Please stop by the AMSAT booth when you arrive at the
Hamvention to confirm your schedule or to change your work assignment
if necessary.
Thank you for your assistance on this. Looking forward to a great
Hamvention!
73
Barry A. Baines, WD4ASW
VP-Marketing & User Services
AMSAT-NA
****************************************
The 2005 Dayton Hamvention is quickly approaching (May 20-22). Basic
information on AMSAT's activities at Hamvention can be found on the
AMSAT web-page (www.amsat.org/amsat-new/articles/Dayton2005). This
memo addresses booth activities and provides an overview of how you
can help make Hamvention a successful weekend for AMSAT. Dayton is a
three-day ‘marathon’ with an immense amount of activity. The 2005
edition is looking to be an exciting weekend with pre-registration
activities suggesting that this year's Hamvention may see a bump in
attendance. Dayton is also the site of the 2005 ARRL National
Convention which has also generated interest.
For those planning to use GPS to Hamvention, Hara Arena’s location in
degrees/decimal minutes is:
N 39 49.223
W 84 15.335
I. AMSAT Booth Activities
AMSAT will be in the same booth location as previous years: Booth
spaces 445-448. Our focus this year is on membership and highlighting
our future direction. We expect to have a very busy booth this year
with a variety of updated and new items:
a. Two new golf shirt designs, a new t-shirt, and new hats will be
available this year. Come see the latest in satellite fashions!
b. An updated laminated AMSAT Frequency Guide (thanks to N1JEZ) with
the latest satellite information.
c. An updated “Amateur Satellite Resource Guide” (thanks to N1JEZ)
will be available at the booth and provided to new members.
d. The latest edition of "AO-51 Development, Operation, and
Specifications" (printed in color and spiral bound), released in
January 2005 by WA4SXM will be available.
e. A newly revised "Getting Stated in Amateur Satellites"
publication will be available at Dayton.
f. An expanded "Digital Satellite and Telemetry Guide" by WA4SXM
will be released at Dayton.
g. Once again, AMSAT expects to offer the ‘Arrow Antenna” at the
booth this year.
Please note that AMSAT expects to handle this antenna at Hamvention
ONLY and will not necessarily be available from AMSAT following
Hamvention. This is the antenna that many individuals are using to
work the LEO FM satellites utilizing their dual-band HT’s.
h. AMSAT will be distributing MacDoppler Pro from Dog Park
Software. This is the premier satellite tracking program for the
Macintosh platform and will be available with an AMSAT member discount.
i. AMSAT will be distributing NOVA at Hamvention this year while
Northern Lights Software will not be present. Software is on CD-
ROM. SATPC32, SCRAP, and Instant Trak will also be available.
j. All of the current AMSAT publications will be available.
k. New AMSAT trinkets (AMSAT pens , refrigerator magnets, and tote
bags) will be offered for the first time.
l. As in the past, software demonstrations will be conducted at the
booth.
m. Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA and a team of volunteers will be
conducting satellite demonstrations.
n. Information on the 2005 AMSAT Symposium and General Meeting to be
held 7-9 OCT in Lafayette, LA will be avaialble.
Commercial hours on Friday are 0900-1800. The commercial hours on
Saturday are 0800-1700 and 0800-1300 on Sunday. Overall, the AMSAT
booth will be open for 23 hours over the weekend.
Former Astronaut Dr. Tony England, W0ORE will be at the AMSAT booth
from 1100-1200 on Friday. Dr. England flew onboard the Space
Shuttle Challenger in 1985 and was the second astronaut to use
amateur radio while in space. This is a great opportunity to 'talk
space' with a NASA space veteran and gain some insight into how
amateur radio's presence in space can encourage young people to
consider a career in math and the sciences. Given the return to
flight of the Shuttle this summer (now scheduled for July) and the
continuing developments surrounding the Moon/Mars initiative, it
should be a wonderful time to 'talk shop' at the AMSAT booth. Tony
will also be attending the Friday night AMSAT dinner at the Amber
Rose and will be our after dinner speaker (noted below).
AMSAT-NA President Rick Hambly, W2GPS will be available at the AMSAT
booth over much of the weekend to meet with AMSAT members. He is
holding official 'office hours' from 1400-1500 Friday, 1400-1500
Saturday, and 0900-1000 on Sunday morning as he has committed to
being at the booth during those hours. If you'd like to talk to the
AMSAT President about something that is on your mind, this would be
an excellent opportunity to meet with him.
II. Hamvention Volunteers
Setup of the AMSAT booth will take place on Thursday, 19 MAY. If you
will be in Dayton during daylight on Thursday and can assist with
setup, please contact me (wd4asw@amsat.org) so that we can coordinate
your participation. The Setup Team will meet in the lobby of the
Hampton Inn, 2550 Parmouint Place, Fairborn, OH at 0830 Thursday
morning before proceeding to the Arena. If you will be arriving in
Dayton later in the day, we can make arrangements for your entry to
assist. Don’t forget to bring proper identification.
We need AMSAT members to volunteer for a ‘tour of duty’ during a
portion of the Hamvention. Volunteers will help handle the myriad of
activities that typically occur at an AMSAT booth-handle transaction,
deal with memberships and renewals, answer questions, and serve as a
representative of AMSAT. Prior experience in representing AMSAT at
(any) hamfests is helpful but not required.
Please let me know if you can give us a hand during the Hamvention.
Send me an e-mail (wd4asw@amsat.org) and include the following:
1. What hours are you willing to volunteer during each day that the
commercial exhibits are open? The commercial exhibits are open
Friday 0900-1800, Saturday 0800-1700, and Sunday 0800-1300. Please
volunteer for one-hour periods or multiples thereof. If you can help
at various times during the Hamvention, please provide a
prioritization as to which specified periods are best for you.
2. Include your name, callsign, and e-mail address in your message.
3. Indicate any special skills that would be helpful, such as
familiarity with specific products available through AMSAT,
particularly software such as MacDoppler, SCRAP, SATPC32 and NOVA.
While we are looking for volunteers to help with the ‘crush’ of
normal exhibitor activities, it would be helpful to know who can
assist in software demonstrations or answer particular questions
about various aspects of our hobby during a particular shift.
4. If you have already sent me an e-mail offering to volunteer,
please respond by e-mail to this request as well by specifying the
times that you are available to work.
If you can volunteer to assist, please let me know by Tuesday, May
10. I intend to provide a tentative work schedule no later than
Sunday evening, May 15 to those who have indicated a willingness to
help. Please stop by the AMSAT booth when you arrive at the
Hamvention to confirm your schedule or to change your work assignment
if necessary.
As noted above, setup of the booth will take place on Thursday. If
you are available to help with booth setup please let me know.
III. AMSAT Membership Drive
AMSAT will once again offer a ‘membership incentive’ at Hamvention in
order to encourage new members to join and have current members renew
during the Dayton Hamvention. The membership theme is “AMSAT: We
ARE Rocket Scientists.” To encourage membership, we will offer a
membership prize raffle once again. This year's drawing will feature
a SSB UEK-3000 2.4 GHz downconverter with the winner specifying which
IF (2 meters or 435 MHz) the downconverter will feature.
For an individual to be eligible for the prize drawing, the following
criteria must be met:
a. An individual must cover the cost of a membership to AMSAT-NA.
Annual basic cost of US membership is $39.00 while cost to personnel
residing in Canada or Mexico is $45.00 and memberships for all others
is $50.00.
b. Both new memberships and renewals of existing memberships at the
suitable level are eligible for the drawing.
c. New membership/renewals must be done at the AMSAT booth at Dayton
Hamvention.
d. Only one membership per individual will qualify. This means an
individual who elects for a multi-year membership receives one chance
just as an individual who selects a one year membership.
e. Individuals who currently hold a Life Membership may elect to
donate to AMSAT the equivalent of one year’s membership ($39.00 US).
In addition, AMSAT will continue to offer memberships at various
‘premium levels’, which qualifies individuals to receive various
incentives. For example, the newly updated laminated AMSAT Frequency
Chart will be given to those who pay the basic membership fee while
SAT PC-32 will be offered to those who pay at the “QRO 75” level
($75.00 in US, $81.00 in Canada/Mexico, and $85.00 elsewhere).
Again, each new member or renewal will qualify the new/renewing
member for this drawing.
The drawing for the SSB UEK-3000 downconverter will be done at the
AMSAT booth at 1200 on Sunday, May 22. The winner does not have to
be present to win and AMSAT will cover the cost of shipping the
equipment to the member’s address as shown on the membership form.
If the winner is present at the drawing, the individual may take the
equipment home directly (and save AMSAT the shipping costs). While
some may regret that we could not include renewals outside of Dayton,
the logistics of such an option makes it impractical to extend the
program beyond Dayton. Keep in mind that the primary purpose of this
incentive is to encourage new memberships from those who attend our
Hamvention Forums and visit the AMSAT booth where they can meet
members, obtain information, and be encouraged to join our hobby.
The March-April 2005 issue of the AMSAT Journal (currently being
mailed to AMSAT members) includes an announcement that effective June
1, 2005 AMSAT membership dues will increase to $44.00/year for
regular membership (with commensurate increases for the other
membership categories). The Dayton Hamvention presents an excellent
opportunity to renew prior to the membership dues increase.
IV. Other AMSAT Activities
1. AMSAT members who are in Dayton on Thursday evening, 19 MAY, are
invited to attend Fourth Annual Pizza’n’Suds get together at Marion’s
Pizza in Beavercreek starting at 1830. Details are available on the
AMSAT web site (www.amsat.org) under Dayton Hamvention. Contact Dave
Misek,, N8NPX at n8npx@arrl.net for more information and to let Dave
know how many people will be in your group. Directions to the
restaurant are available on the AMSAT Website (www.amsat.org/amsat-
new/articles/Dayton2005).
2. Don’t forget the AMSAT dinner on Friday evening, 20 MAY, at the
Amber Rose Restaurant in old North Dayton, which is the same location
that we’ve used for the past nine years. Doors open at 1800 (happy
hour) with dinner served at 1930. Cost including tax and tip (but
not including cash bar) is $27.00. Former Astronaut Dr. Tony
England, W0ORE will be our after dinner speaker. Reservations are
required. Contact Nancy Makley, kc8gyw@amsat.org. Confirmations
will be sent via e-mail. Directions to the restaurant will be
available at the AMSAT booth. For GPS/APRS users, the restaurant’s
location in degrees/decimal minutes is:
N 39 46.915
W 084 9.557
Maidenhead Grid Square EM79ws
3. This year the AMSAT contingent will be staying at the same hotel
that we used in 2004: Hampton Inn, 2550 Paramount Place, Fairborn, OH
45324 (tel. 937-429-5505). AMSAT’s block of rooms are already
booked, but you can try contacting the hotel to see if there any
rooms available over Hamvention weekend.
4. The AMSAT Forum is scheduled on Saturday from 0815-0945 in
Forum Room 1. The following presentations are scheduled:
Barry BAINES, WD4ASW Forum Moderator
-Rick Hambly, W2GPS "AMSAT's Vision and Mission"
-Jim Sanford, WB4GCS "Eagle Project Update"
-Sam Jewell, G4DDK "An Update on SSETI Express Student/AMSAT-UK
Satellite"
-Frank Bauer, KA3HDO "ARISS Upate"
5.Satellite Demonstrations
Drew Glasbrenner, K04MA and his team will be conducting satellite
demonstrations during Hamvention. The schedule of satellite passes
for the demos will be available at the booth.
Satellite demos are planned for the following periods using FO-29,
SO-50, and AO51:
Friday 0945-1025 (FO-29, SO-50)
Friday 1125-1205 ((AO-51, FO-29, SO-50)
Friday 1300-1315 (AO-51)
Saturday 1035-1100 (FO-29, SO-50, AO-51)
Saturday 1220-1240 (FO-29, AO-51)
Sunday 0925-1000 (SO-50, FO-29)
Sunday 1105-1205 (SO-50, FO-29, AO-51)
All times shown are local (EDT).
Note: AO-51 is expected to be in V/S Mode (2 meter uplink/S-Band
downlink) during Hamvention.
In the event that HAMsat (aka VUsat) is operational by Dayton,
additional demonstrations will be scheduled on that satellite as
well. HAMsat is currently scheduled to be launched on 5 MAY 05 from
India's Sriharikota Launch Facility around 10:35 IST. Check AMSAT
News Service (ANS) for updates.
Individuals wishing to see these satellite demonstrations are invited
to meet at the booth ten minutes prior to the start time of each
demo. The demos will be conducted outside the 'BALLARENA' entrance
(door #1) which is the entrance nearest the AMSAT booth..
VI. Summary
AMSAT will once again offer a strong presence at Dayton this year,
with particular emphasis placed on our activities at the AMSAT booth,
Forum, and satellite demonstrations. There are also plenty of
opportunities to socialize (meet new friends and greet old ones), get
the latest information on satellite activities, and encourage
newcomers to come on board.
Dayton is a unique opportunity to represent AMSAT to an extremely
large number of people. If at all possible, please consider giving us
a hand during this event. If you will be attending Hamvention this
year and are unable to help out, please stop by the AMSAT booth and
say ‘hello’ and take advantage of what AMSAT has to offer at Dayton
this year.
'73
Barry A. Baines
VP-Marketing & User Services
AMSAT-NA
E-mail: wd4asw@amsat.org
phone: 704-788-8032 (home)
704-788-8042 (home-fax)
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Sent via amsat-bb@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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